How the Polytechnic@UofM is leading Tennessee's AI revolution
July 10, 2026
If the University of Memphis is Tennessee’s AI University, as University of Memphis Provost Dr. David J. Russomanno told conference attendees from around the country at the American Society of Engineering Education Southeastern conference held at the University of Memphis in March 2026, then the Polytechnic@UofM is its data center.
The mission of the Polytechnic@UofM is to provide students with real-world skills that they can immediately use in the workforce. And as the workforce changes, more and more of that focus shifts to artificial intelligence.
Through the Polytechnic@UofM’s Applied AI Bachelor of Applied Science program, students don’t necessarily learn how to develop their own AI programs, but how to best leverage AI tools, analyze data and make smarter decisions through technology.
The 120-credit-hour, workforce-centered baccalaureate program is tailored to adult learners and working professionals and only requires college algebra as its highest mathematics prerequisite. The curriculum revolves around a 24-credit Applied AI Core that establishes AI literacy, data visualization, prompt engineering, information assurance, ethics and project management skills.
“The premise is straightforward: every future worker will need AI competency, regardless of discipline. Rather than training students as AI developers or systems architects, the concentration prepares graduates as practitioners who can deploy, evaluate, and govern AI tools within their industry domains,” said the Polytechnic@UofM Executive Director Dr. Russell Deaton.
But students can still gain a basic understanding of AI through the Polytechnic@UofM without committing to the 120-credit-hour program. The Polytechnic@UofM recently acquired the University of Memphis’ AI for All minor, a 12-credit-hour program comprising two core courses and two electives that cover AI fundamentals and teach students how AI integrates into different industries.
Of course, it takes people who know artificial intelligence to teach all of those programs. During the Spring 2026 semester, many instructors at the Polytechnic@UofM earned certificates through Vista Data's Applied Gen AI for Higher Ed Professionals program. The professors split up into groups to complete capstone projects. Dr. Faruk Ahmed, an assistant professor of Engineering Technology, used the tools he had become familiar with to develop a teaching aid for his students.
"The tool I developed, I will use as a backup tool to teach my students," Dr. Ahmed said. "In the classroom, many students don't pay attention or they are tired or they are not able to focus. So, they can go home and loop back what was taught today and they can refresh their mind in their own time. This will enhance their activities because they don't have to rely on me always. They can do some research on their own and I can see what they're learning because at the end of each topic and module, there are some questions for assessment. This keeps track of it. So, this is a really, really useful tool for me as an instructor."
Deaton hopes the Polytechnic@UofM’s innovative instruction will lead to a flood of workforce-ready students who want to use AI to take their careers to the next level. With that potential influx in mind, the Polytechnic@UofM hired several new members to better prepare students. Dr. William Duffy came to the Polytechnic@UofM from the University of Memphis’ English Department to lead the AI charge as director of Applied AI.
When AI began implementing itself in the world, Duffy immediately jumped on board and even led a University of Memphis AI task force responsible for polling students, faculty, and staff about concerns, questions, and interests regarding AI.
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“I thought, ‘Well, if there are going to be people leading these initiatives, I’d rather be the one doing that than handing it off to someone from computer science. That user perspective, that’s something I felt like I was bringing to this space as I was approaching AI through a user-experience lens,” Duffy said.
The Polytechnic@UofM will welcome its first AI students in August.
“I’m interested in seeing to what extent AI literacy and the Gen Ed landscape over the next five to 10 years starts to develop. As, again, higher education starts to ask itself, ‘What do we really value?’ What kind of experiences do we want our students to have and what kind of knowledge do we want them to acquire?” Duffy said.